Good Tastes
by dawnnoondusk
Summary: Sokka and Toph are invited to Zuko's wedding three years after the war had ended. Toph gives presents and news while Zuko gives advice and encouragement. Maiko and hints at Tokka.


This takes place about 3 years after the war so Zuko is about 20 while Toph is 17 and Sokka is 19.

* * *

'Well, well, well...' said Sokka as he and his companion were led through one of the many courtyards in the palace. 'Being Fire Lord sure has its perks, huh?' The surroundings were peaceful and elegant, with plenty of trees rustling gently in the hot wind that blew through the land as well as strategically placed bushes, blooming with flowers in every colour of the rainbow. There was also an emphasis on ponds full of turtle ducks for some reason.

'I'll say.' agreed his blind companion. Even she could feel the sheer opulence of the palace with every step she took. Every foot step brought back an echo of vibrations that showed her the high soaring ceilings and solid foundations of the surrounding buildings. Her 'sight' was so great she was even able to distinguish between all the different metals and woods used to make the buildings. 'It couldn't have been cheap to build this place.'

'Definitely.' said Sokka as he glanced at the building they were approaching. The servant girl who was leading them pushed open the doors of the building and ushered the pair in. They entered into a long hall and were met by a blast of cool air, a wonderful contrast to the baking heat outside. 'This is the West Wing of the palace. The Fire Lord has commanded that the entire place be used for the pre-wedding ceremony party. The other guests are in the room at the end of the hall.' and as if on cue, a burst of laughter erupted from the room. Toph estimated there to be six people in the room. 'The Fire Lord will be joining you all shortly. If you require any assistance, just ring the bell and one of us will attend to you immediately.' recited the servant girl. She then bowed before departing, leaving the two standing in the hall.

'Stop looking at her like that, Sokka.' said Toph the moment the door had closed securely behind the girl. 'What? How did you know?' said Sokka, flabbergasted. Had she gotten so good she can sense facial expressions? 'Because I know you. Just because Suki dumped you doesn't mean you have to make goo-goo eyes at every girl that walks by.' sniffed Toph, her disapproval apparent. 'Why do you care?' asked Sokka, his foolish teenage male mind thinking that Toph said that because she cared for Suki. All Toph did was grunt and walk off. 'Hey, wait up!'

He hurried to catch up with her. She merely walked faster then turned to enter a room. He caught her shoulder and told her, 'Hey, didn't you hear her say that the rest of the gang are in the other room.' 'Yea, I heard her. I'm blind, not deaf you know. I just wanted to go to the toilet, if that's alright with you?' she said with surprising venom. 'Erm, okay. I'll tell the others you'll join us later okay?' he said as he removed his hand from her shoulder, slightly frightened by her sudden anger. She merely nodded her understanding before waiting for him to leave.

After she made sure his footsteps had faded to a safe distance away, she let out a huge sigh and then shuffled into one of the soft armchairs in the room. _What's wrong with me? _She thought, her head in her hands. She didn't know why she had reacted so violently. Well, yes, she did, but she didn't want to admit it. It was all because of **him**. She let out another sigh.

'What's wrong?' asked a voice. 'Who's there?' she asked, quickly hopping to her feet. The echoes answered her. _A tall man, lanky, wearing heavy robes and a steady, strong heartbeat. _That, paired with the voice, allowed her to identify the person immediately.

'Sparky!' she cried. 'Toph. It's been too long.' her best friend said with a smile as he looked at the girl, no, woman before him. It had been a year since they had met and in that time, she had remained same yet different. Her hair was still a mass of ebony black but it was now sleek and straight, ending just above the collar of her outfit in a swishy bob. She still wore a head piece but it was not the one she had worn when they first met. She had also grown taller and her figure had filled out nicely though she insisted on hiding it behind baggy clothing. Her face was no longer hidden behind her once-unruly bangs and he could clearly see her familiar smile.

'Yea, well, whose fault is that?' she asked with a hand on her hip. She heard his familiar chuckle. 'I suppose that is my fault, but running a country is no easy job. If it wasn't for Uncle's help, I would be in a lot of trouble.'

'How is the old one? You better let him take a break soon! I want him to come visit me like he promised.'

'As you wish, my lady.' answered the Fire Lord as he mock bowed to her. She managed to reach out and cuff his head lightly with scarily accurate aim, a small smile on her face.

'Don't use that tone on me, young man.' she scolded, doing a mock impression of Katara's motherly-ness. He grinned. He had missed her and told her as much. It made him smile wider as he saw her cheeks flush a slight pink.

'Yea, well, you have to come visit me too, okay? With your Uncle.' she said, suddenly shy.

'My, my Toph, are you actually shy? Goodness, what has your mother done to you?' the scarred firebender joked.

'She's made me **_behave_** myself.' shuddered Toph, saying the words as though she was being tortured instead of being sent etiquette lessons. 'She would have made me wear a dress here too! Luckily I managed to get my maids to redo one of my old outfits. I changed into it the moment I stepped out of the house.' Zuko laughed. That was his Toph. Stubborn as a bull-bear.

'I must say that I like this new you. You look beautiful.' he said. 'Really?' she asked, her cheeks colouring one shade deeper.

'Of course. A man would have to be insane to deny it.'

'Well... I happen to know one.' she murmured partly to herself. Zuko smiled sympathetically. 'How is Sokka? Is he coping with his new singleton status?'

'He's coping alright. He keeps making those stupid goo-goo eyes of his at every pretty girl that walks by!' she spat angrily. There was no need to hide her feelings from the Fire Lord. They always told each other everything when they had travelled together and he had known long ago her feelings for the clueless water tribe warrior.

'I'm sure it's just the way he copes.' he said comfortingly. Toph just snorted in disbelief.

'Where's your darling wife, anyway?' she asked, changing the subject swiftly.

'She's just getting her make-up done. When I left, her mother was hovering around her and commanding the servants like a general.' he replied, shaking his head as he thought of the poor girls whom he had left in the wrath of his soon-to-be mother-in-law.

'Ha-ha... those poor things. I know how it feels. My mum does that to our servants too whenever they manage to convince me to go to one of their stupid balls.'

'You go to balls?'

'Do I look like I have a choice?' she asked with a grin on her face.

'No, I guess not. I should give those servants some sort reward for putting up with my mother-in-law.'

'Oh yes, speaking of rewards.' she reached into her bag and pulled out two small boxes. 'Here you go.'

'What is this?' he asked as she thrust the boxes into his hands.

'Open it and see! The one in your left hand is for you. The other one if for Mai.'

Carefully setting down the box in his left hand, he then turned his attention to the box in his right hand and slowly loosened the fastenings. He lifted the lid and saw a golden ring set in a cushion of red velvet. He lifted the ring out of the box and took a closer look at it. The ring made in the shape of a dragon and the dragon's body looped around in a circle, the tail and head meeting at one point. Set in the dragon's mouth was a red gem stone that shone like the sun. The ring was so detailed that Zuko could see each individual scale of the dragon.

'Toph. This... this is...' the Fire Lord stuttered.

'Do you like it? I've never seen a dragon before so I went out and got a dragon statue and studied it.' said Toph, uncertain whether the stuttering and the sudden increase in heart rate was a good sign.

'How... How did you make this?' he asked, finally finding his voice again.

'I metal bent it of course. Well, I did the dragon body anyway. I got someone else to set the ruby in its mouth. Those little fangs were real tricky to do you know! I hope it looks okay. It _felt _like a dragon should anyway...'

'Okay? Toph, this is **amazing**! This is the best present anyone has ever given me!' Zuko said and then he hugged the surprised earthbender. 'Thank you, thank you so much!'

After she recovered from the initial shock, she returned his hug. 'You're welcome Sparky. You just owe me a really good birthday present now!' she joked. And then, just at that moment, a pair of familiar footsteps thudded down the hallway. Sokka stuck his head into the room, asking, 'Toph, you ther- Oh.' he said as the two friends separated.

'Oh, hello Sokka.' greeted Zuko.

'Zuko. Er, hi. I was just checking on Toph. You know. Wondering where she was and stuff... '

'Well, as you can see, she is safe with me. We just had some catching up to do.' said the firebender. 'Yea... I can see that.' Sokka said softly with a strange look on his face. 'I'll just go tell the others you're coming.' The warrior said in his normal voice as he slowly backed out of the room. Toph waited till the footsteps faded out range before speaking again. 'What did his face look like?'

'He looked... confused.' Zuko said. 'Confused.' she echoed. 'Yes.' Toph said nothing, a wondering look settling on her face. She reached up and started to fiddle with her head piece. Zuko did not disturb her. Instead, he carefully placed the ring back into the box and placed both boxes into his pocket. When Toph finally finished thinking, she looked up again. 'Oh, sorry. Kinda blanked out just now.'

'It's alright. What were you thinking about?'

'I don't really know...' she said, a confused look on her face. Then she snapped out of it. 'Anyway, don't forget to keep that ring properly, okay? It took me a week to make!'

'Of course. I would never lose it. I'll give Mai hers the moment she joins us.'

'Good. I made matching earrings for her as well. She deserves it after what she did for you at the Boiling Rock.'

'Yes. She is a wonderful woman.' he said, smiling as he thought of his girlfriend.

'And brave too. It must have taken a lot of guts to stand up to Azula!' Toph nodded her approval. She had faced the fallen princess on many occasions and had to admit she was quite a frightening person.

'Azula? She stood up to Azula at the Boiling Rock?' he was confused. He knew she helped them escape but she never mentioned an encounter with his sister.

'Yea! Don't you know?'

'No!'

'Ty Lee told me what happened. She was there too.'

'What happened?'

'Well... Ty Lee told me not to tell anyone...' said Toph.

'Toph, you can't be so cruel as to only say something halfway!' pleaded Zuko.

'Oh, alright...' And so Toph told him everything that had occurred after he had escaped from the Fire Nation prison. 'And she said, 'You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you.' Then your sister went ballistic and yelled something about how Mai should have feared her more. She almost attacked your darling too but Ty Lee managed to stop her in time.' finished Toph. Zuko was silent for a moment as he absorbed what he had just learnt. 'Wow.' was all he managed to say.

'Wow? Spirits, Zuko! Is that all you can say?' asked the Blind Bandit.

'I... I'm just a little surprised, that's all.'

'You should be. That was simply amazing. You've got good taste in ladies my friend.'

'Very true.' it was now his turn to have a wondering look on his face. Suddenly there was a burst of raucous laughter from the room where the others had congregated that cut into his pondering.

'We should get going.' said Toph as she fingered her head piece nervously.

'Where did you get that?' asked Zuko, looking curiously at the green hair band.

'What, this? Oh, Sokka got it for me. Said that it suits me better.' she said softly. Zuko smiled.

'He has good taste.' he said simply. Then he continued, 'Toph. You should give yourself a chance you know. You might not be able to see yourself but believe me when I say you look stunning. And you are such a wonderful person too. Caring, strong, loyal. Sokka would have to be completely stupid to not see this.'

'Me? Maybe you should get your eyes checked Sparky.'

'No, Toph, I mean it. If you had seen his face when he saw me hugging you, you would understand what I am trying to say. But I sure even though you didn't see it, you felt it.'

'Well... his heart did kinda skip a beat and then beat faster...' she said with a doubtful look on her face.

'There you go. There's something there Toph. You just have to believe in yourself.' encouraged Zuko.

'You're beginning to sound like your Uncle.' said Toph but Zuko didn't need to be able to read heartbeats to know what she was feeling. The tiny smile forming on her face was enough.

'You can't help but start turning into someone when you are near them every day.' laughed Zuko. 'Tell you what, since you are so eager to see your lover-' this earned him a sharp jab in the ribs. 'Why don't you go meet up with the others first? I'll join you the moment Mai gets here.'

'Alright.' she nodded in agreement and started to leave. As she reached the door, Toph turned back. 'Hey, Sparky?'

'Yes?'

'Thanks. Mai has pretty good taste too.'

He smiled. 'Thanks, Toph.' She smiled back and then headed down the corridor, walking towards the familiar voice of the water tribe warrior.

* * *

'Zuko?' asked Mai as she walked into the room. 'There you are, I'm sorry I took so lo-' she wasn't able to finish her sentence as the Fire Lord had, in one smooth movement, gotten up from his chair and claimed her lips in a breathtaking kiss.

'Zu-Zuko.' she stammered out after he finallly released her lips. 'What was that about?'

'That was for what you said on the Boiling Rock.' he whispered in her ear.

For a moment Mai was confused. Then it dawned on her what he was refering to and she blushed scarlet under his heavy stare.

'Who told you?'

His only reply was a mumbled, 'It doesn't matter.' before he leaned in to kiss her again.

* * *

Well? How was it? I may make a series of one-shots that are linked to this, either as prequels or sequels, though they'll be focused mainly on Tokka. Please let me know if you found it good or bad. I've been running into a dry patch with reviews lately and I don't know if I should continue writing. It's a bit discouraging, you know?

So, yea, reviews thanks!

**Love,** **dawnnoondusk**


End file.
